Netanyahu speech exposes bitter divisions

Tthe optics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech on Tuesday were just as important as the speech itself.

GOP’s net neutrality point man says fight is not over

The Republican Party’s point man in Congress on net neutrality admitted Tuesday that the GOP has been slow to act on the issue but insisted that Congress must be the body setting the rules for how the Internet will be regulated.

Ex-CIA chief admits sharing military secrets with mistress

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Former CIA Director David Petraeus, whose career was destroyed by an affair with his biographer, has agreed to plead guilty to charges he gave her classified material — including information on war strategy and identities of covert operatives — while she was working on the book.

Justice Department finds racial bias in Ferguson police practices

By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has concluded that the Ferguson, Missouri, police department routinely engages in racially biased practices, a law enforcement official familiar with the department's findings said on Tuesday. The investigation into the police department began in August after the shooting of unarmed African-American teen Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson sparked national protests. Analysis of more than 35,000 pages of police records found racist comments from officers as well as statistics that showed African-Americans make up 93 percent of arrests while accounting for only 67 percent of the population in Ferguson, the official said.

Fugitive ex-NSA contractor Snowden seeks to come home: lawyer

A Russian lawyer for Edward Snowden said on Tuesday the fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor who leaked details of the government's mass surveillance programs was working with American and German lawyers to return home. In Washington, U.S. officials said they would welcome Snowden's return to the United States but he would have to face criminal charges which have been filed against him. Snowden's lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, who has links to the Kremlin, was speaking at a news conference to present a book he has written about his client. There is a group of U.S. lawyers, there is also a group of German lawyers and I'm dealing with it on the Russian side." The United States wants Snowden to stand trial for leaking extensive secrets of electronic surveillance programs by the National Security Agency (NSA).

New U.S. defense chief presses lawmakers for boost in funding

By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Ash Carter warned lawmakers on Tuesday that continuing cuts to U.S. defense spending were causing "corrosive damage to our national security" and he urged them to back the president's request for a big boost in military funding in 2016. Testifying for the first time as secretary before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carter said military modernization by rivals such as Russia and China threatened to erode the Pentagon's technological advantage over other forces. He said President Barack Obama's request for a $534 billion Pentagon base budget plus $51 billion for overseas military operations would help the department repair equipment, restore training levels and invest in new weapons for the future, factors put on hold because of budget cuts and ongoing wars.